The Minnewaska Area cross-country teams competed at the Wadena-DC Invitational last Tuesday night with the girls’ team placing second out of 15 full teams and the boys earning sixth out of 18 full teams.

Leading the way for the Lakers were Nori Song, who placed sixth in the girls’ meet, and Ian Mills, who earned eighth for the Laker boys.

It was a good test for Minnewaska as most of the teams were from Section 6A.  Last year, only Staples-Motley and WDC kept the Laker girls from earning a state team berth, but at the WDC Meet, the Lakers beat both those teams.

The Lakers have a rare two-meet week this week as Minnewaska is set to race at the LPGE Invitational, Monday, and at the NLS Invitational, Thursday, Sept. 12.

This year’s Minnewaska Area girls cross-country roster includes juniors Lauryn Ankeny, Piper Citrowske-Lee, Grace Herfindahl and Aubrey Stark; sophomore Sophia Wallin; ninth-graders Sydney Ankeny and Ella Larson; and eighth-graders Jillian Deutsch, Maia Larson and Nori Song, while the boys cross-country roster includes seniors Luke Hoffmann, Ryan Koehntop, Ian Mills, Zach Palmer and Chase Wacker; juniors Carter Dinsmore and Tayte Wasiloski; ninth-grader Rylan Tank; eighth-graders Deitrich Reidenbach and Jase Ritter; and seventh-grader Caden Hawkins.

WDC Invitational

The Lakers raced at the WDC Invitational last Tuesday in a meet that included 100 racers in both the girls and boys varsity meets.

Nori Song ran a time of 21:34 to place sixth overall in the girls competition and lead the Lakers to a runner-up finish.

Audrey Brownell, of Staples-Motley, won the race with a time of 19:59, while two runners from United North Central were second and third, helping their team place first overall with 46 points.

Minnewaska Area was next with 61, while WDC was third with 89 and Staples-Motley was fourth with 148.

Jillian Deutsch was next for the Lakers with a time of 22:14 to place 12th, while Maia Larson was 13th (22:19), Piper Citrowske-Lee was 15th (22:34), Lauryn Ankeny placed 24th (22:58), Sydney Ankeny was 27th (23:03) and Sophia Wallin placed 43rd (24:20) out of 100 total runners.

Jacob Drevlow placed first in the boys meet with a time of 16:51 to lead Sauk Centre to the boys’ team title with 49 points, while Park Rapids was second (80 points), Staples-Motley was third (140) and the Lakers were sixth (169).

Ian Mills led the Lakers in eighth place overall with a time of 18:03, while Zach Palmer was 21st (19:26) and Luke Hoffmann 23rd (19:32) out of 100 total runners.

In addition, Carter Dinsmore placed 61st (21:25), Rylan Tank was 64th (21:27), Ryan Koehntop placed 75th (22:20) and Chase Wacker was 94th (24:18).

•  In the boys junior high race, Dietrich Reidenbacher placed fourth for the Lakers with a time of 12:13 and Jase Ritter was fifth in 12:15 during a race of 3200 meters.

Nolan Rach, of Bertha-Hewitt, won the race with a time of 11:41, while Caden Hawkins was 33rd for the Lakers with a time of 14:29 out of 84 racers.

There were no Lakers in the girls’ junior high race won by Ottertail Central’s Claire Mansker in 13:15.

•  Minnewaska also didn’t have any runners in the boys’ JV race won by Alex Drevlow of Sauk Centre in 19:59.  Sauk Centre had eight of the top 11 runners

In the girls’ JV race, Aubrey Stark won the title in 24:52 while Ella Larson placed fifth (26:49) and Grace Herfindahl was ninth (30:14).

at Wadena-DC Invite

Girls varsity team results:  (1) United North Central 46  (2) Minnewaska Area 61  (3) Wadena-DC 89  (4) Staples-Motley 148  (5) Sauk Centre 154, Bertha-Hewitt 201, Melrose 209, WCA 231, Parkers Prairie 257, ABE 264, Barnesville 276, Pillager 288, Park Rapids 296, Alex Community Chris 307, LPGE 368

Girls top five:  (1) Audrey Brownell, SM 19:59  (2) Angalie Aho, UNC 19:59  (3) Macie Josephson, UNC 20:17  (4) Julia Schmidt, Border West 21:14  (5) Kendra Miller, BH 21:29  (6) Nori Song, Min 21:34

Minnewaska Area times:   (6) Nori Song 21:34  (12) Jillian Deutsch 22:14  (13) Maia Larson 22:19  (15) Piper Citrowske-Lee 22:34  (24) Lauryn Ankeny 22:58  (27) Sydney Ankeny 23:03  (43) Sophia Wallin 24:20 . . . (100 total runners)

Boys varsity team results:    (1) Sauk Centre 49  (2) Park Rapids 80  (3) Staples-Mot 140  (4) WDC 146  (5) Melrose 166, Minnewaska 169, WCA 186, OTC 219, Bertha-Hewitt 225, BKMS 243, United North Central 262, Barnesville 297, LPGE 351, ABE 366, Pine River-Backus 419, Pillager 455, Verndale 490

Boys top five:  (1) Jacob Drevlow, SC 16:51  (2) Peter Newark, OTC 17:19  (3) Cadyn Vanderwal, Orton 17:31  (4) Drew Aho, UNC 17:34  (5) Carter Kjesbo, WCA 17:51

Minnewaska Area times:   (8) Ian Mills 18:03  (21) Zach Palmer 19:26  (23) Luke Hoffmann 19:32  (61) Carter Dinsmore 21:25  (64) Rylan Tank 21:27  (75) Ryan Koehntop 22:20  (94) Chase Wacker 24:18 . . . (100 total runners)

Check out more photos in our photo gallery!